We Are (Good) Enough

When I tell people I self-published, I get a mixed bag of reactions—good and bad.

But when I talk to readers who don’t know I self-published, I sometimes get to hear the unfiltered truth on their opinions towards self-publishing.

It hurts. I won’t lie.

Most of what I hear is that writers turn to self-publishing because they aren’t good enough for traditional publishers. This one hurts the most. Why? Because it’s what I used to tell myself. It took years of supportive conversations with fellow writers and friends to realize I was good enough.

Guys, my own family won’t read my books. I know and understand now that it’s not because they don’t like my writing, but rather that they don’t like to read the genre I write. It took me a while to get there and it stung at first.

Let me dispel this myth once and for all. Writers self-publish for a multitude of reasons. The main one, control. The least common one? They aren’t good enough.

They are. I am.

Indie authors choose self-publishing because it’s damn near impossible to break through the gates of traditional publishing. Agents see hundreds of queries a day. And reject hundreds of letters a day because of various reasons that have little to do with an author’s skill.

I won’t get into the other reasons authors choose to self-publish (yet), but let’s stop immediately dismissing indie authors because of some preconceived notion that they’re lacking talent or skill.